


Empty (Office) Space

by IHaveTooManyOTPs



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Office, Armitage Hux & Phasma Friendship, Armitage Hux Has Issues, Armitage Hux Needs A Hug, Armitage Hux needs an Armitage hug, Autistic Armitage Hux, Awesome Phasma, Brendol Hux's A+ Parenting, Brendol sucks, How Do I Tag, I'm Bad At Tagging, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Internalized Homophobia, Kinda, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Parents Han and Leia, Phasma Ships It, Slow Burn, Why Did I Write This?, background Poe Dameron/Finn - Freeform, probably
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-15
Updated: 2019-09-24
Packaged: 2020-01-14 15:43:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18479305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IHaveTooManyOTPs/pseuds/IHaveTooManyOTPs
Summary: Armitage hated his job. If someone asked him what exactly his role was in this company, he wouldn’t be able to tell them. Something to do with finance? All he knows is that it involves computers, statistics, printing, faxing, taxing, and nowhere NEAR enough relaxing. But he knew that if he was ever going to move into his own place, far, FAR away from his parents’ prying eyes, he’d need to be making some money. So here he was, trapped in a mind-numbingly tedious 9 to 5, Monday to Friday, dead-end office job.But it wasn’t all bad.There was one thing that kept him from just quitting, telling his father to shove his money where the sun won’t shine, and completely starting his life over as a vagrant.One thing that kept him (somewhat) sane.And his name was Ben Solo.





	1. Chapter 1: New Faces

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Kylux fic and my first proper fanfiction, so go easy on me!  
> I’m open to constructive criticism of course, and any Kudos and Comments are extremely appreciated! Hope you enjoy!

Armitage hated his job. If someone asked him what exactly his role was in this company, he wouldn’t be able to tell them. Something to do with finance? All he knows is that it involves computers, statistics, printing, faxing, taxing, and nowhere NEAR enough relaxing. But he knew that if he was ever going to move into his own place, far, FAR away from his parents’ prying eyes, he’d need to be making some money. So here he was, trapped in a mind-numbingly tedious 9 to 5, Monday to Friday, dead-end office job.  
But it wasn’t all bad.  
There was one thing that kept him from just quitting, telling his father to shove his money where the sun won’t shine, and completely starting his life over as a vagrant.  
One thing that kept him (somewhat) sane.

And his name was Ben Solo.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

His back ached. He had been hunched over this damn computer for almost 3 hours, too afraid to move in case his back broke, and too afraid to break his back in case his boss accused him of doing it to “get off work”, whatever the fuck that meant.

He knew he’d have to move eventually, since it was almost time for the company’s weekly meeting, where they discussed... Business? He never really paid all that much attention. It always took place on a Friday, so maybe it was to talk about what happened this week, and what would be happening next week.

He actually liked these weekly meetings. They were an excuse to get his eyes away from his computer screen for an hour. Plus, the view from the conference room window was incredible.  
That was one good thing about working in such a large company. It meant large buildings, with large windows, and plenty of things outside of said windows that were far more interesting than whatever the fuck his colleagues were discussing.  
He never really thought about how little he cared about this job until the time he saw two birds fornicating on the windowsill... and it was the highlight of his day.

That was the day he realised how much he hated his life.

He knows he should be grateful. After all, he has a roof over his head, food to eat, a steady, though tragically low, income of money. To anyone on the outside looking in, he would appear to have a relatively normal and decent life.

But they don’t see the rest of him.

They don’t see the nights where he cries to himself, all night. Cries until there’s nothing left to cry, too tired to stay awake but too upset to sleep, eventually drifting off with his head resting on a tear soaked pillow.

They don’t see the horrible way his father looks at him. The horrible way his father spits out his name like a bad taste in his forever-frowning mouth. The horrible disappointment...

They don’t see the self-hatred. How ashamed he is of himself, for not going to university like his parents wanted him to do. For feelings he can’t control or change, no matter how many times he convinces himself that he’s “cured”. For taking his frustration out on his own skin rather than letting it out, not that he had anyone to vent to anyway.

They don’t see the rest of him.

They don’t see _him_.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He had zoned out almost immediately, looking straight out the window as soon as he sat down, ready to watch the world go by for the next hour, then he would go and get lunch. He’d recently started having lunch with a fellow financial team member, and they were becoming rather fast friends. Finally, someone he can talk to during lunch instead of just eating at his desk, alone.  
He didn’t know what her real name was, nobody did, so everyone just called her Phasma. She may have told him the story behind that nickname, though he couldn’t really remember. He forgot a lot of things. Usually it was just a case of having not listened. Maybe he’d ask later at lunch.

He was abruptly jolted out of his own mind at the sound of the door to the conference room flying open and slamming shut. Everyone turned to look towards the door, and towards the cause of the sudden interruption.  
“Ah, speak of the devil.” He heard his boss say behind him. At least, Armitage thinks that’s what he said. He couldn’t quite hear him over the sound of his own heart jumping into his throat. This man was...

 _Beautiful_.

His hair was long and jet black, shaggy, as if he’d just been caught in a windstorm. (Or, more accurately, just bolted up nine flights of stairs to get to the meeting on time because the elevator in the building was broken. Yeah, that was more likely.)

His black shirt wasn’t tucked into his trousers, and his tie was still slung over his shoulder from running. He was slightly unkempt, but not scruffy. He was... _just_ _right_.

He ran a hand through his hair and straightened his tie, before giving a small smile. He was still out of breath. He looked suave, yet somehow nervous at the same time. Audacious yet anxious. He puffed out a; “Sorry I’m late,” before walking towards The boss’ extended hand and tight smile. They shook hands as his boss started; “Nonsense, nonsense! As I was saying, everyone, this is Mr. Ben Solo, he will be starting as the new team leader for the financial department from today, moving onward. Please, have a seat, we were just about to begin.”  
The newcomer smiled and nodded slightly to the rest of the room, before straightening his tie (again) and sitting in the empty seat beside the team leader of the IT department, Mitaka. Again, he’d never bothered to learn his first name.

Huh. Kind of strange how this “Mr. Ben Sole” could instantly be given the role of team leader. Surely, that should go to the most hardworking and skilled team member.  
Not Armitage himself, of course, but somebody who had at least been working here more than this guy. What made him so special that he could just waltz in and take over the role as team leader?  
He suddenly realised that this is the most he’s actually thought about his job in the last... ever.  
Must be something to do with the friendly new face, because for the first time, he actually paid attention during the meeting. Well, kind of.  
By paid attention, he means he spent the whole time throwing quick glances towards this mysterious, dark haired stranger and then nervously staring down at his own twiddling fingers while he plucked up the courage to look at him again, rather than just staring out the window.  
At least his focus was actually in the conference room for once. That’s worth something, right?

_Right?_

_He_ _was_ _fucked_.


	2. Chapter 2: New Foe?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I apologise in advance for this chapter. I wrote it at 3 o’clock in the morning and I haven’t proof read it. Enjoy.

“So, what do you think about the new fella?”

Armitage looked over at his lunch mate, who was currently picking a bit of lettuce out of her teeth. She would always have salad for lunch. She said it was the reason she was so tall. Armitage figures that was probably a myth. It was the first time he’d actually paid attention to her all day. He had been in a world of his own since the meeting ended about 30 minutes ago, thinking about everything, and nothing. However, his mind would keep going back to the tall, mysterious man who had burst into the conference room. There was just something about him.

So when he heard Phasma mention the ‘new fella’, he immediately snapped out of his daydream in order to talk about him. But instead, somehow, all he managed was a dumbstruck; “Huh?”

 

_Jesus Christ._

 

He couldn’t help but realise how _stupid_ he probably looked right now.

Phasma just blinked at him.

 

“Y’know, the new team leader, ‘Mr Ben Solo’,” She emphasised his name with air quotes and rolled her eyes.

 

“Oh,” he started, not really sure what she wanted to hear. Did she just want to talk shit? Should he tell her how intriguing he found ‘Mr Ben Solo’? Could he trust her with sensitive information like that yet? Was he overthinking this? He only really knew the answer to the last one.

 

He was _definitely_ overthinking this.

 

“He seems alright, I suppose. A little unprofessional maybe.” He shrugged one shoulder and continued eating. He never really liked eating in front of people. But, for some reason, Phasma was different. Maybe, in another universe, one where he wasn’t a flaming gay, they would be more than friends. Or maybe not.

I guess we’ll never know.

 

Fortunately, she seemed satisfied with his answer, and simply nodded her head in agreement and dropped the subject. They finished their lunch break in a comfortable silence, something that Armitage had always believed to be a myth until today, and he thanked his lucky stars for finally giving him something he’d never had, but always wanted;

 

A _friend_.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

He sat up way too quickly and almost threw his back out again when a large stack of papers were dropped onto his desk.

 

_Of course._

 

He met eyes with his boss, trying desperately hard to ignore the massive scar on the right side of his concave head. He always felt the urge to ask him what happened, but figured that that was probably a bad idea.

 

“Hux, I need these all proof-read and faxed by the end of the day.” His voice was cold and harsh, so different from the warm way he’d spoken to Mr Ben Solo in the meeting earlier.

 

“Yes, sir.” And with that, his stupid boss, Mr S.L Snoke was back in his office.

 

Armitage never understood why HE had to do all of the faxing. He worked in finance, was faxing really his area of expertise? Shouldn’t faxing be left to... The faxers?

 

He really had no idea what the fuck he was doing. How he still had this job was beyond him. Maybe his father was paying Snoke off? He didn’t know. Or care, so long as HE was getting paid.

 

Besides, why the hell were they still using fax machines? It’s the 21 century, for Christ’s sake, just use email!

 

He skimmed through the first couple of pages, realised how long it would take him to “proof-read” all of these, even if he half-arsed it, and decided that it was probably fine. He got out of his chair, struggling to carry the huge stack of papers, and made his way to the faxing office.

 

Thankfully, the office was empty, so there was nobody there to judge him as he just barely dumped the paperwork down onto a table with a loud thud and an even louder grunt.

 

Even after working here for almost 7 months, he still wasn’t really sure how a fax machine worked.

 

Well, apparently, putting three sheets of paper into a fax machine in quick succession wasn’t a way to make the job go quicker, but a way for the fax machine to get jammed.

 

 _Of_ _fucking_ _course_.

 

 _He_ _was_ , _officially_ , _done_ _with_ _this_ _fucking_ _day_.

 

He opened the machine to try and figure out how to solve the problem, despite everything inside him was telling him to curl up into a corner and cry loudly until someone comes to help him. But he wasn’t a child anymore.

 

 _Unfortunately_.

 

He quickly learned that tugging on the paper wasn’t a good idea, nor was it a good idea to try and put ANOTHER piece of paper in the machine to push the other three sheets out.

 

By the end there were five sheets of paper, all crumpled and all stuck, inside the fax machine.

He was about to call for someone, (a janitor, maybe? A technician?) when the door to the office opened, and in worked a very tall, very handsome, and very confused new Team Leader.

 

“Uh, is everything... okay?” He asked. Fuck, his voice was so deep and beautiful.

 

He wanted to yell. He wanted to cry. He wanted to tell him that everything was fine, and that he didn’t need help. But instead he said nothing. He just rubbed his eyes with his palms and sighed.

 

“Having some trouble there, man?” He could hear the smirk in his voice. He didn’t know if it was arrogance or amusement, but at this point, he no longer cared. He removed his hands from his face and glared at the snide man in front of him.

“Yes. Obviously,” he shouted. Seeing the shock in the taller man’s eyes, he timidly added; “I jammed the bloody thing and now I’ve made everything worse.”

 

The shock turned into an amused grin. “Oh my god, you’re British?” He shrilled.

 

_What?_

 

“What?” Armitage couldn’t help the confusion in his voice. What the fuck did his nationality have to do with anything? “Yes, again, obviously, I’m British. Now do you know how to unjam a fax machine, or should I just quit now before Snoke sacks me?”

 

He didn’t know where he got that sudden boost of confidence, or the balls to say all of that, but it seemed to work, as the other man walked forwards, expertly unjamming the machine and saving the five crumpled sheets.

 

He handed them back, and with a simple “Try not to overload the machine again,” he left, leaving Armitage confused, slightly impressed, and extremely irritated.

 

So, this ‘Mr Ben Solo’ was a massive dickhead, just like everyone else? _Great_.

 

On the plus side, at least he probably wasn’t fucked anymore, right?

 

 

_Right?_

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y’know, I actually googled faxing in an attempt to make this chapter a little bit more accurate, but the only thing I learned is that I’m stupid and should never be allowed near any kind of machines... Ever! :P


	3. Chapter Three: New Frenemy?

The rest of the work day was uneventful. Armitage faxed the rest of the papers, delivered them to Mr Snoke’s office, for which he received a disinterested grunt of acknowledgement and nothing else, then he sat at his desk and did absolutely nothing for the last 15 minutes, then he packed up his shit and went home.

 

He would enjoy weekends a lot more if he lived alone. Instead, weekends were usually spent locked in his room all day. He would go downstairs for breakfast early, before his parents woke up, then would go back to bed, where he would either sleep until late afternoon, or he would write. He liked to write. It kept him focused, but also somehow separated him from the real world. When he wrote, it was just him, his pen and paper, and his overactive imagination running wild. Writing helped him cope with his busy mind. He found that writing his thoughts down, whether in the form of a poem or a simple diary entry, helped clear his mind, if only for a short while. 

He would go back downstairs when dinner was ready, and ate in silence while his father complained about work or indirectly belittled him, commenting on how he “never did anything productive” or how he wishes Armitage had been a better, more athletic son. Once he’d finished dinner, he would help his mother with the dishes, again, in complete silence, then went back up to his room, his safe space, where he would either continue to write, or read his previous ramblings, depending on whether he could be arsed or not, or he would get an early night, ready to do the whole thing again tomorrow, and then back to his regular schedule once the week began again.

 

A vicious cycle.

 

A _boring_ vicious  cycle.

 

A  _lonely_ _, boring_ vicious  cycle.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

As soon as he stepped into the office on Monday morning, he knew something was amiss. It was relatively quiet, despite most of his coworkers already being there. As he walked towards his desk, he got a couple of funny looks from them, but he tried to ignore it. It was probably just his imagination, it usually was. But as he turned the corner and entered the room where his desk was situated, he realised why people were staring. Snoke was standing right in front of him, and he did not look happy.

 

Fuck.

 

“Hux.” He bellowed across the room. Armitage swore he felt the ground beneath him shake.

 

_Fuck._

 

He walked over, trying not to trip over his own feet. “Y-yes, Mr. Snoke?” He hated the way his voice quivered. He sounded like a child who was about to be told off by a teacher. Which, now that he thought about it, was actually pretty accurate.

 

Armitage was tall, but Snoke was taller. Not tall enough to tower over him, but tall enough where he could look down his stupid nose at him, to make Armitage feel small and helpless.

 

The way his boss’s caved-in face wore such a look of disgust and anger made Armitage wish he could just shrink into his thick, black peacoat and just disappear.

 

Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.

 

“ Would you care to explain to me why I came into work this morning and found SIX emails sent to my computer, all complaining about the multiple spelling and punctuation errors in the documents for ‘Holdo inc. Foundation’ I had you fax on Friday?”

 

_Fuck_!

 

Dammit! He knew he should’ve proofread them all. But seriously, how could they expect a man to proofread, like, 50 documents, by himself, in 30 minutes? It was unreasonable!

And how was it his fault that the documents were riddled with grammar mistakes? He didn’t fucking write them! 

 

“U-uh...” What the hell was he supposed to say? ‘Oh sorry boss, I would’ve proofread the papers, but I couldn’t be arsed.’ He was bound to get fired, if he wasn’t already!

 

Suddenly, as if by some sort of miracle, a deep voice came from behind him. “Hey, Mr. Snoke, it’s my fault!” Armitage turned to see ‘Mr. Ben Solo’ walking towards them with his hands in the air, as if he were surrendering.

 

“What?” Snoke asked. 

 

Armitage was just as confused, but kept his mouth shut.

 

“Yeah, I-I’m sorry, it’s my fault. he was proofreading them in the faxing room and I went in and we started talking and I distracted him. By the time I remembered to shut my big mouth, it was too late to read them all, so I told him to just fax them.” Despite the slight stuttering, Mr. Ben Solo sounded confident in his lie, as if he’d rehearsed it. His face didn’t show any indication of deception, and, after a quick once over, Snoke relaxed his muscles slightly. 

 

“Alright well, in the future, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t distract my employees, Mr. Solo, but I suppose, since you’re still getting adjusted to this new work environment, I can overlook it, just this once. Besides, no harm done, right?” His smile looked somewhat forced, but thankfully, after a curt nod towards the rest of the room, he turned on his heels and walked back to his own office without another word.

 

As soon as his door ‘clicked’ shut, a weight was lifted from the whole room. Everyone relaxed and slowly, the room began to wake up, and the sounds of fingers tapping on keyboards and light office banter filled the space at last.

 

Armitage was still in slight shock, and hadn’t moved an inch. He finally turned his head to look at the tall, dark haired man who was, almost cautiously, walking towards him. Armitage felt his cheeks begin to heat up. He didn’t know whether to act gratefully or annoyed, because, quite frankly, he didn’t know if he  felt grateful or annoyed. In the end, he settled on a bit of both. He spoke up as the man came to a halt in front of him.

 

“Thanks, but I didn’t need your help.” Okay, that ended up sounding a lot less grateful and a lot more sarcastic.  _Shit_ . The taller man’s face didn’t falter, though.

 

“Well, I couldn’t just stand there and let you take all of the blame, now could I?” Mr. Ben Solo raised an eyebrow and looked down at Armitage, but not in a rude or pretentious way. More of a daring way, as if he were challenging him. 

_Fine_ , Armitage thought, _two could play at that game_.

“Yeah, well, it’s no fun being completely inculpable, you know?” Armitage offered the most confident, deadpan look he could muster, and held his opponents stare. 

It was intense. Almost too intense. He had never experienced anything like this before. Never experienced anything this fierce. It was damn near debilitating. But he wouldn’t back down. He  couldn’t . 

At last, Mr. Ben Solo broke eye contact and gave a slight smirk, then looked back up. “Consider it an apology for my behaviour on Friday, Mr... Hux, right?”

“Yes. Armitage Hux.” Armitage outstretched his hand. Mr Ben. Solo took it in a quick, strong handshake. Hux tried to ignore how big the other man’s hands were, and how sweaty his own were.

“Ben Solo.” Armitage nodded in acknowledgment. Then, as soon as their heated interaction had begun, it was over, as Mr. Ben Solo let go of his hand and walked away, back towards his own office space. Gone. As if it had never happened. 

 

But it had.

 

And it was  _extraordinary!_

 

As he sat down at his desk, and his heart had slowed back to a normal pace, Armitage replayed the whole encounter in his head, again and again. He was exasperated. He had never felt so weirdly alive. He had never had so much confidence. So much control of his emotions.                                                                                                         Something about his new Team Leader brought out a different side of him. A side that he never knew he had. A bolder side. In that moment, he felt so sure of himself. It was a strange feeling. An unfamiliar feeling, but a welcome one. 

 

Maybe this ‘Mr. Ben Solo’ wasn’t so bad after all...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that the chapters are inconsistent. Sometimes I just have no inspiration.  
> Hope you enjoyed, nonetheless <3


	4. Chapter 4: New Findings, Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Woah, it has been a hot minute!
> 
> Sorry for my long absence, I have just had absolutely NO inspiration!
> 
> But I’m back! This is part 1 of ‘New Findings’, not sure when part 2 will be out. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but someday! :P
> 
> Oh, and for those who aren’t sure, a ‘lift’ is what we Brits call an elevator, though I’m sure you all knew that.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!!

Chapter 4: New Findings

 

 

The rest of Armitage’s morning had been kind of a blur. He couldn’t seem to focus on anything. His mind always wandered, especially when he was at work. His thoughts would jump from topic to topic. In one moment, he’d go from thinking about endangered animals to what he had for dinner 4 days ago.

He was sure that were was a connection between subjects somewhere...

 

He just never knew where.

 

 

He refocused on reality when he heard the sound of typing dissipate, being replaced by idle chatter. He looked at his watch.  _Thank god_!  It  was his lunch break. He grabbed his bag and headed for the cafeteria.

 

When he got there, Phasma was already sat at their usual table. He was glad she was there. As much as he liked walking there together, he always felt so small walking beside her. Armitage wasn’t short by any means, but Phasma still towered over him. She would joke about it, calling him “Tiny Tidge” or using his head as an armrest. If it were anyone else, he’d have bitten their hand off, but Phasma is his friend. His closest friend, in fact. He would never tell her that though. 

She’d never let him live it down.

 

She looked over, and when Armitage waved, she just smirked.

 

_ That’s weird . _

 

When he shot her a confused look, she simply wiggled her eyebrows and jerked her head towards the table, silently gesturing for him to hurry up.

 

_ Why is she acting like she knows something? _

_ What could she possibly kno— _

 

_ Oh, Fuck! How could he forget? _

 

He internally groaned and, hesitantly, made his way towards his impending doom.

 

 

“Hello.” She drew out the word, a knowing, smug look on her face.

 

_Goddammit_.

 

“Hi,” He sounded so defeated, and that only made her smile widen.

 

“So,” She sticks her fork into her salad, and looks at him with feigned innocence. “What was all that ruckus about earlier?” She popped her forkful of salad into her mouth and smiled as she chewed.

 

Armitage sighed and rubbed his eyes with his fingers. He had never wished for lunch to be over before.

 

But I guess there’s a first time for everything.

 

“Phasma, you were there. You know what happened, you sit four desks away from me!”

 

“I know,” she kept looking down at her lunch, stirring it around with her fork as she spoke. “Just wondering what it was all about.” She sounded expectant, as if she was waiting for him to tell her the whole story.

 

_ Well, he was  not  going to do that. He wasn’t going to give in to peer pressure! _

 

“Alright. Basically, last Friday,”

 

_Okay, I suppose he was_.

 

“ Snoke asked me proof-read and fax, like, fifty files, but I jammed the fax machine, because I wanted to get it over with because I was tired and fed up and I just wanted to go home!”

 

Phasma huffed out a laugh. “Been there, Tidge.”

 

“Well anyway, ‘Mr. Ben Solo’ comes waltzing in and fixes it with his magic, perfect hands and then I just did the rest and went home.”

 

“Wait, that’s all?” Armitage nodded. “Then, why did he tell Snoke you were talking and lost track of time?”

 

Armitage thought for a second then shrugged. “To cover for me, I guess. He said it was to make up for his behaviour on Friday. All I know is that I appreciated it.” Armitage took a swig from his coffee flask, all that talking had dried his throat somehow.

 

“And all **I** know  is that there was some _serious_   sexual tension.” She went back to eating her salad as if she HADN’T just said that, meanwhile, Armitage was choking on his coffee.

 

_What?!_

 

“I’m sorry, what?!” He tried to keep his voice down, but his mind was racing.

 

_ What did she mean sexual tension? They’d barely even spoken! Why would there be tension? Did anyone else notice it? Did BEN notice it ? _

_What did it all mean?_

 

“It was just really intense. Surely, you felt it?” 

 

“I mean, yes, I felt the intensity, but,” he stopped and thought.

 

Is that what it was? Was it really just intensity, or was there something else brewing between them?

 

No. Of course not! They don’t even know each other, it was just a simple interaction between coworkers. Nothing more.

 

“But it was mostly just a mixture of panic and a weird, newfound confidence. That’s all. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I am hungry. As he got up to get his lunch, he could tell that Phasma wasn’t fully convinced.

 

Then again, neither was he.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Like most, the remainder of the day was a boring rush of typing and background noises. 

He and Phasma had spent the rest of their lunch break talking about random things, like how and why they both moved to America from England, why they took the job and what they actually wanted to do with their life. Apparently, Phasma was in an up and coming punk band, but they only played at local bars and clubs, so she wanted to get a regular job to pay for things like better instruments or to rent a small studio to practice. He was pretty impressed, and he promised to come and watch them live. 

Although punk music wasn’t really his thing, he wanted to support his friend, even if she was a pain in the ass sometimes.

 

 

As he was leaving the building at the end of the day, he noticed ‘Mr. Ben Solo’ entering the lift. He power walked towards it. He realised he should probably thank his new team leader for saving his ass this morning.

 

Thankfully, there was no one else in there. The last thing he needed was witnesses to what would probably be an embarrassing, stuttering mess of a thank you.

 

“Mr. Hux. Going down?” His voice was so deep and smooth, he was already blushing like a schoolgirl. 

 

_That sounded suggestive. Did he mean for it to sound suggestive? God, Phasma must have really gotten into his head!_

 

“Yes, ground floor, please.” The please was almost silent, his voice just above a whisper. Why was he so nervous?

 

_ Come on, Armitage! Man up! Talk to him ! He’s not a goddamn monster! _

 

“I, um... I wanted to thank you, for earlier. For, y’know, covering for me. I think Mr. Snoke probably would have sacked me if you hadn’t taken the blame, so... Thanks.” He kept his eyes on the floor the whole time, not once looking up, afraid that his blush would be too noticeable.

 

“Don’t mention it, man. It was the least I could do. I mean, I was kind of a dick to you.” He laughed but Armitage could tell he was serious, and he suddenly felt really bad.

 

“No, y-you weren’t, if anything,  **I**   was the dick!” He looked up at the other man and their eyes met again, but only for a split second. Armitage looked back down at his feet and continued;

“And I’m sorry that I was rude, I was just really tired and I was angry at myself and I took it out on you, and I shouldn’t have.” 

 

“Hey, don’t worry about it. What’s done is done. Plus, I’d be pissed too if my boss asked me to read AND fax fifty pages of boring documents in half an hour.” He laughed and so did Armitage, and he started to relax. He was about to say something when the lift made a loud BANG and came to a sudden, bumpy stop and they were plunged into darkness.

 

To be continued... 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is probably gonna be pretty slow burn, I apologise.
> 
> Comments and constructive criticisms are always welcome! 
> 
> Thank you for reading!<3

**Author's Note:**

> Is it obvious I have no idea what the fuck I’m talking about? :P  
> Anyway, not sure when the next chapter will be out. I’ll probably wait until I’ve gotten some ideas or constructive criticisms in the comments, but until then, I hope you enjoyed! There may be trigger warnings in the future, but they probably won’t be too bad, so don’t fret! Thanks for reading!


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